JASPER – Dr. Shane Lyerly of Jonesboro was last, then was first in the 2013 Arkansas elk hunt in Buffalo River country. Lyerly was the last person drawn for a public land elk permit in June at the Buffalo River Elk Festival in Jasper. But he was the first hunter to down an elk in 2013, scoring on Monday morning.

He used a compound bow for the first time in any kind of hunting, and he took a cow elk in the Richland Valley Sonny Varnell Conservation Area just south of the river. It was the first time a cow elk had been taken by archery equipment in the 16 years of limited hunting. Two bull elk have been taken with bows – one in 2011 and the other in 2012.

It was Lyerly’s first time to go after elk. He had a helper, Rick Hunter of Bono, who had hunted elk four times in Colorado.

Lyerly, a family doctor, said, “In the last drawing for an on-site permit at the festival, a name was drawn, but that person was not present. They had to draw again, and they drew my name.”

Lyerly and Hunter scouted the area on Saturday and found a bull elk with 14 cows. In the next field they spotted a lone cow elk. Sunday, after the required hunter’s orientation, they went back to the area and saw the cow elk by itself again.

“That was the one we went for, figuring that was just one elk to detect us compared the all those others in the next field,” Lyerly said. “We got there early and found the cow, but we had to get close enough to shoot (with a bow). We took about two hours to move about 40 yards closer. Then a tree was in the way.

“That elk and I played peekaboo around the tree, and finally she moved where I could get a shot. The range was 40 yards. I hit her but a little high, and she ran. We found my arrow with tissue and blood on it. I waited again, and she finally turned broadside, and I put an arrow through her. The range this time was 14 yards.”

Eight hunters had public land permits. But two were scratched because of the federal shutdown that closed Buffalo National River land to hunters. Those hunters’ permits were for land within the National Park Service boundaries. These two hunters will be given permits for the 2014 elk hunt by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Other elk taken by hunters included a cow by Billy Burleson of Lead Hill, a 4x5 bull by Ridge Fletcher, 14, of Little Rock and a 6x7 bull by Cain Lusk, 12, of Hector.

Another elk hunt will be Oct. 28-Nov. 1 with 20 hunters holding permits for public land. A private land elk hunt will be conducted at the same time.

Rest area on Cut-Off Creek WMA to remain dry this season

COLLINS – Due to upcoming habitat improvements and timber management efforts, the Pigeon Creek Waterfowl Rest Area on Cut-Off Creek Wildlife Management Area will not be flooded during the 2013-14 duck season.

One of the upcoming habitat improvement projects, aimed at attracting more ducks to the waterfowl rest area, is dependent on dry soil conditions going into the 2014 growing season. The decision to leave the waterfowl rest area dry will allow those habitat improvements to be made much earlier than normal.

The restrictions pertaining to public access to this waterfowl rest area will remain in effect for the 2013-14 hunting season. For additional information, contact the Wildlife Management staff at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Monticello Regional Office at 877-367-3559.

Current Arkansas deer harvest now available online

LITTLE ROCK –Deer hunters interested in studying the state’s deer harvest can now get real-time data on the season. Hunters can check the deer harvest numbers at https://dev.ark.org/gamecheck/reports.php.

The information is available as a result of the agency’s use of the online and telephone checking system for deer. In addition to ease of use, faster data processing and real-time data reporting, the new process has enabled the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to analyze the deer harvest by date. According to the AGFC’s Deer Program Coordinator Cory Gray, the information will allow the agency to chart trends during the season. “It also will provide valuable details about the effects of season structure on harvest,”

Gray said. Gray said the information hunters are providing is invaluable to the agency. “It is critical that hunters provide us accurate data and give us all of the information requested,” he explained.

To provide the information over a cell phone, hunters must call from an area where a cell phone signal is strongest. “Hunters have 24 hours to check their game, so we’re asking people using a cell phone to go to a location with a signal stronger than one bar. Hunters need a good signal so their information comes through as strong as possible on the system,” Gray says. “It’s not going to work if you don’t have the signal strength,” he added.

As of right now, checking deer can be done in one of three ways, the call to 866-305-0808 or online at www.agfc.com. There’s also iPhone and Android AGFC applications that are available.

When you’ve finished checking your game, you’ll be given a four-digit check number that must be recorded on the license. So make sure you have a pen ready. –

Deer hunting seminar planned at nature center

FORT SMITH – Deer Hunting 101, designed for beginning hunters but with material even experienced can benefit from is scheduled Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center in Fort Smith.

The seminar is free and will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration is needed at 479-452-3993.

The program will include a demonstration of field dressing a deer. Other topics to be covered are an overview of Arkansas’s deer, regulation basics, guns and gear, tree stands, hunting principles, where to hunt, making the kill, game care and venison recipes.

Lunch will be served, and it will include several venison dishes. Participants can bring sack lunches if they prefer.

MOUNTAIN HOME – Nature lovers of all ages will get a chance to look more closely at critters found in water, underground and throughout the woods, not to mention trees and plants themselves, during this year’s David’s Trail Day from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 20, at Lake Norfork. David's Trail is located nine miles east of Mountain Home on U.S. Highway 62, then one mile north on State Highway 101. Turn right at the Panther Bay sign, then take the first left to the pavilion to find registration and activity tables and the trailhead.

The annual David's Trail Day will include a variety of outdoor activities, starting at the trailhead in Panther Bay Park, off Highway 101. Sponsored by the David's Trail Foundation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wells Fargo Advisors and North Central Arkansas Master Naturalists, the celebration will highlight athletic and wildlife opportunities available every day on the trail.

Activities will be geared for families, children and any individuals interested in nature. Master Naturalists will set up stations in or near the pavilion and along the trail with information about and how to identify mammals from their pelts, tracks and scat; frogs and toads from their calls; macroinvertebrates (aquatic bugs and other critters) under a microscope; and tree life cycles from “tree cookies.” Other activities include sowing heirloom plant seeds and acorns, racing earthworms and face painting. Much of the trail is accessible to the disabled.

A work in progress, David's Trail is being built to honor the memory of community leader David Floyd, a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors. Floyd enjoyed time outdoors around north central Arkansas with family and friends as much as he enjoyed time indoors working with clients in the office, according to friend and colleague Jackson Rhoades of the Mountain Home Wells Fargo Advisors office.

"David let his actions speak louder than his words," Rhoades added. "He used his time and talent to better the lives of those around him and was recognized as an asset to his community." Floyd chaired and served on the Baxter Regional Medical Center Board, Airport Commission, Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club before his death nearly seven years ago at age 50.

David’s Trail Day is always a lot of fun for us, said NCAMN president Roy Stovall of Lakeview. “We enjoy sharing our own and David’s passion for actively exploring nature and wildlife. David's Trail is one of our favorite projects. It's an incredible resource for the area, as well as the state and region, a special place where we can enjoy Arkansas' outdoors," he said. Master Naturalist volunteers also help maintain the trail throughout the year, including installing bluebird boxes, planting wildflowers, and labeling trees.

David's Trail is a joint effort of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the David's Trail Foundation that began in October 2008. Approximately eight miles of the trail is currently open with another five miles under construction within the Corps' lakeshore strip from the Highway 101 bridge to Highway 806. When complete, the trail will be more than a 50 mile network of multiple-purpose trails located on public lands surrounding Lake Norfork and designed to encourage the kind of active lifestyle Floyd exemplified.

Additional information is available from Anne Criss at 870-656-1119 or Nell Doyle at 870-499-7763 and on the following websites: http://www.davidstrail.org/ http://home.arkansasmasternaturalists.org/index.php/home/north-central-chapter –